W Track & Field

Indoor Track & Field Opens at Appalachian Open

Dec 01, 2012

Maegan Henry and the Tornado men's and women's track & field teams opened their indoor season at the Appalachian Open, hosted by Appalachian State University.

BOONE, N.C. – King College Men's and Women's Track & Field opened their indoor season this weekend at Appalachian State University where they competed in the Appalachian Invite among a host of NCAA Division I and II programs.

King's highest individual placement came from reigning Freshman of the Year, Maegan Henry (Bluefield, Va.) after her second place finish in the women's shot put. Henry hit a distance of 12.98 meters in her first of four throws, finishing in front of three Appalachian State throwers by more than half of a meter. The sophomore also finished eighth in the weight throw with a 14.85m toss.

On the track, King had six top-5 finishes in a variety of events. In the women's 200-meter dash, senior Lanneickia Brewton (Inman, S.C.) finished just 0.01 second behind the event winner, Breahna Morrison (Appalachian State), with a time of 25.92. Freshman Tia Nelson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished fourth in the event with a 26.63 time. Also posting a strong time in her debut with the Tornado was sophomore Alexis Robinson (Belton, S.C.), who placed sixth overall.

School record holder Shelbie Burchfield started the year off with a promising third place finish in the women's high jump, hitting the 1.62m mark.

On the men's side, sophomore Knoxville, Tenn. natives Justin Newring and Reggie Warren both finished inside the top-5 in the 200-meter dash. Newring finished fourth with a 22.75 finish time, 0.01 seconds out of third place. Warren was just 0.07 behind his teammate for a fifth place finish.

Sophomore Forrest Stuart (Appalachia, Va.) was the final top-5 finisher of the day, finishing fourth in the 55-meter hurdles event in 7.95 seconds. His time was just 0.23 second off the provisional qualifying mark of 7.72 necessary to qualify for NCAA nationals.

A host of King athletes finished in the top-10 in their respective events. Freshman Joktan Moore (Mount Airy, N.C.) placed sixth in the triple jump, nearly matching his personal record. His best jump was his final one in which he hit 13.79m, holding off Lees-McRae's Malcolm Peeler for best Division II competitor in the event. He also placed sixth in the long jump, registering a best 6.76 meters. Teammates Eric Jones (6.63m) and Forrest Stuart (6.57m) finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the event.

Also finishing in the top-10, was freshman thrower Jeremy Stamper who placed 10th overall in the shot put (13.44m). Other notable performances include freshman Shayla Goins' 11th place finish in the women's shot put (11.34m), missing the top-10 by just 0.02 meters (0.75 inches).

Both Tornado indoor track & field teams will return to Appalachian State on Jan 18-19 for the Mountaineer Open (Boone, N.C.).